Manhole-frame.



H. T. DANIELS.

MANHOLE'FRAME.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. as, 1911.

Patented Feb. 26, 1918.

Ha rry Tflam'ejs nivirnn snares rairnnr oFFIoE.

HARRY T. DANIELS, 02 PROVIDENCE. RHODE ISLAND.

MANHCLE-FRAME.

Application filed September 15, 1917.

object of this invention is to provide a simple and effective manholeframe for this purpose which may be readily adjusted in height withoutbe'ng obliged to dig up the road material about the t ame.

A further object'of e invention is to construct the manhole frame of twomembers, one adapted to tclestope or slide within the other and tointerpose one; or more readily removable spacing rings between these twoad'ustable members. which rin s serve first, to support the load passingover the manhole; sec-rd, to provide simple and effective means wherebythe body of the frame may be readily adj nsted to the changing levels ofthe road bed: and third. as the diameters of the rings are substantiallyequal to that of the flange on the upper member, the outer face of thewhole adj ustable portion of the frame is entirely flush while in anyadjusted position. thereby effectually preventing the surroundingmaterial from falling into and so prevent adjusting without tearing upthe material about the manhole.

A further objectof the invention is to provide a set of grooves in thefixed portion of the main member and a set of corresponding ribs on theadjustable member adapted to slide in said grooves in the main member.which ribs whenguided in said grooves perform a double function; first.they prevent any possible tipping of the adjustable member when a heavyteam runs over one edge thereof: and second, these ribs serve to engagethe rings at intervals and space the rings from the body surface of theadjustable member thereby retaining the rings accurately in their properpositions against the crowding effect of the surrounding road material.and also by presenting a comparatively small area to the rings. thelatter are prevented from rusting to the body of the adjustable member:

Specification of Letters Patent.

Serial at. 191,521.

With these and other objects in view, the invention conslsts of certainnovel features of construction. as will be more fully described andparticularly pointed out in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings:

Figure 1 is a sectional side elevation on line 11 of Fig. 1- showing theadjustable member of the frame in raised position.

Fig. 2 is a bottom view of the adjustable member showing the arrangementof the longitudinally-disposed ribs formed on the body portion thereof.

Fig. 3 is a top view of the main member showing the grooves formed onthe inner surface thereof.

Fig. iis a top view sectioned on line li of Fig. lshowing the ribs ofthe adjustable member engaging the grooves of the main member.

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of one of the spacer rings.

Referring to the drawings, designates the main member of my improvedmanhole frame which is constructed in ring form and provided with aflange 11 around its lower edge adapted to set onto the brick work 12 ofthe manhole of a road conduit. The inner surface of this ring-shapedbody member is provided with a plurality of longiti'idinally-disposedgrooves 13 extending the length thereof.

A second relatively ad ustable member 14- is constructed with. a.tubular-shaped body having an annular flange 15 about its upper edge, inthe outer face of which is the recess 1.6 for the reception of the,manhole cover (not shown). The body portion of this adjustable member isprovided. on its outside with longitudinally disposed rib 17" adapted toloosely lit and slide in the grooves 13 of the main member.

The body portion 14 of this adjustable member is of a length suflicientto extend well into the main member even when raised to its maximumheight.

In order to provide a simple and effective adjustment for raising andlowering this ad justable member relative to the main member, Ihaveinterposed two spacing rmgs or members 19 and between the under-face ofthe flange 15 and the upper face 18 of the main member 10, the ring 19being, for example, one inch in thickness while the ring 20is formed twoinches thick, whereby it will. be seen that by the use of these twoPatented Feb. 26, 1918.:

rings three adjustments of one inch, each, may be made, that is, when itis desired to drop the flange 15 one inch the small ring is removed;when it is desired to drop the flange two inches the large ring isremoved; and the small ring replaced; and when it is desired to drop theflange three inches both rings are removed. The opposite is true when itis desired to raise the adjustable member a step at a time.

I have described these spacing-rings as two in number but any desirednumber of rings and of any suitable thickness may be employed asspacers.

One of the essential features of-this in vention is the forming of thesespacer-rings of an outside diameter equal to that of the flange 15,whereby when positioned beneath the tiange a wa i of uniform outersurface is provided, which is an important feature in the adjustabilityof the frame when the whole is positioned in a road bed and the roadmaterial is packed closely about the same.

Then it is desired to lower the frame to conform to the surface of theever wearing road bed. it is only necessary to pull out the inneradjustable member, remove one of the rings and then drop this memberback into position and the adjustment is quickly accomplished in themost satisfactory and practical manner and that without the employmentof a skilled mechanic.

It will be seen that if any portion of these side walls were notabsolutely flush, but projected one portion beyond another that thermul'material would crowd in around the overhanging portion andnecessitate the tearing away of the road material before the parts couldberemoved in order to effect an adjustment of the same, which operationtakes time, is very expensive and would render quite impractical anadjustable 1nanholeframe of such a character.

These spacer rings are held in position and prevented from displacementfrom pressure of the surrounding material by means of the ribs 17',which ribs also serve to pre- Copies of this patent may be obtained forvent the rings from rusting solidly to the body portion owing to theextremely small area in contact therewith. Another and importantfunction of these ribs is that owing to their engagement with thegrooves in the main member which is permanently secured in position, thetop of the frame is efiiectually prevented from tipping when a heavyteam runs over its outer edge.

My improved device is extremely simple, inexpensive in construction andpractical in its operation and by its use manhole frame may be readilyadjustable at intervals to correspond to the ever changing grade of amacadamized road bed withoutrdisturbing the main member which is firmlycemented to a brick foundation, and which, if disturbed, wouldnecessitate the employment of skilled mechanics and a heavy expense eachtime it was changed to conform to the grade.

The foregoing description of my improved manhole frame is directedsolely toward the construction illustrated, but I desire it to beunderstood that I do not restrict myself to this exact construction, butthat I reserve the privilege of resorting to all the mechanical changesto which the device is susceptible, the invention being defined andlimited only by the terms of the appended claims.

I claim:

A manhole frame comprising a main memher having longitudinally-disposedgrooves formed on its inner circumference, a relatively adjustablemember having a body portion with longitudinally-disposed ribs on itsouter surface adapted to slide in the grooves in said main member, anannular flange about the upper edge of said adjustable member, and oneor more readily removable spacing plain rings about said ribs andintel-posed between said flange and main mem- Y her, the outer diameterof said rings being substantially equal to that of said flange;

In testimony whereof I atiix my signature in presence of a witness.

- HARRY T. DANIELS. \Vitness:

HoWAnn E. BARLOW.

five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, I). 0.

